Ocean Grove's Asbury Park border to get new hotel, condos and beachfront homes

Ocean Grove is getting a new waterfront hotel, condos and single family homes.
Austin Bogues, @AustinBogues

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Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association President Michael Badger talks about the proposed project. Ocean Grove is planning a new hotel and housing developments as well as retail along its north end near the beach and boardwalk.
Ocean Grove, NJ
Friday, May 4, 2018
@dhoodhood
(Photo: Doug Hood )Buy Photo

OCEAN GROVE - Right now there's a pile of rubble sitting on a vacant lot at the north end of the Ocean Grove boardwalk, just south of the entrance to Asbury Park.

But that's about to change.

Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association President Michael Badger said the organization has reached a development deal with a group of investors to bring a new 40-room hotel, 39 condominiums, 10 single family homes, along with new retail space to the area. You can see him explaining the new development in the video above.

The development will be the first on the 5.6-acre tract of land in nearly 40 years. The construction will also include a 150-space parking garage.

"We feel a duty to make the community a welcoming and enjoyable place to come to visit as a resort and to live as a resident," Badger said.

The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association owns all of the land in Ocean Grove. The project will be spearheaded by a group of business partners under the name "Ocean Grove North End Development L.L.C."

Badger said obtaining the permits for the construction will take nearly a year. He declined to give the cost of the project or the planned date of completion.

Barbara Burns, president of the Ocean Grove Homeowners Association, which advocates for individual homeowners in the neighborhood, said the development announcement was a positive step for the community.

She said the homeowners association pressed for more answers regarding the development timeline but did not receive answers from the meeting association.

The development group will receive a 99-year land lease to develop the property, Badger said. He said the new homes in the north end development will "respect Ocean Grove's Victorian architecture."

The portion of land on the north end of Ocean Grove has sat undeveloped since 1978, when the North End Hotel was demolished due to "spiraling maintenance costs and declining patronage," according to Press archives.

Badger said the land has been an eyesore in the decades since the hotel was torn down. He noted an attempt to redevelop the property in the mid-2000s that failed to materialize when the real estate market collapsed.

While the portion of land near the Ocean Grove north end waterfront has festered, the nearby Asbury Park waterfront has flourished in recent years.

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Ocean Grove is planning a new hotel and housing developments as well as retail along its north end near the beach and boardwalk.
Ocean Grove, NJ
Friday, May 4, 2018
@dhoodhood
(Photo: Doug Hood )

But Ocean Grove residents are quick to point out that while the development is in close proximity to the Asbury Park boardwalk, the communities are different.

"The flavor of Ocean Grove is different from that of Asbury Park," Badger said.

Ocean Grove, population 3,000, is located in a single square-mile along the Shore. It was founded in 1869 by Methodists in the aftermath of the Civil War. In addition to the Victorian architecture, it's renowned for the more than 100 tent dwellings.

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Ocean Grove is planning a new hotel and housing developments as well as retail along its north end near the beach and boardwalk.
Ocean Grove, NJ
Friday, May 4, 2018
@dhoodhood
(Photo: Doug Hood )

The community was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

“I think it’s exciting to finally have something move forward,” said Jack R. Green, a real estate broker who lives in Ocean Grove. He said the new development will help Ocean Grove compete with tourism in Asbury Park.

"We always had the North End Hotel, which was kind of our boardwalk commercial area," Green said. "I’ve missed it since it was gone."